You really don’t know what you’re talking about, do you? Minimal research would show you that she was a passenger in the car at the time.

TRiG.

]]>By: Ryanhttp://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/2012/08/16/47746/comment-page-1#comment-137042
Sat, 18 Aug 2012 22:32:22 +0000http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/?p=47746#comment-137042Sorry for the off-topic, but BJohhM, you really need to watch the documentary “Hot Coffee”. What you believe happened to the elderly woman with third degree burns is not at all what happened. That her story has been distorted into this cautionary tale about frivolous lawsuits is truly a tragedy.

As for Chris Armstrong, the fact he’s decidedly not trying to cash in on this case makes him nothing short of a hero in my book.

]]>By: Jayhttp://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/2012/08/16/47746/comment-page-1#comment-137016
Sat, 18 Aug 2012 12:39:49 +0000http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/?p=47746#comment-137016One clarification: he is donating the award to the scholarship fund for bullied students that he and his parents established with an initial donation of $100,000. The award does not go directly to the Spectrum Center. Another thing: Chris’s parents remarked on how they too were affected by the bullying of their son. I hope that the jury considered that as well in coming up with the amount of the award.
]]>By: Jayhttp://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/2012/08/16/47746/comment-page-1#comment-137015
Sat, 18 Aug 2012 12:37:24 +0000http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/?p=47746#comment-137015Chris Armstrong and his family are classy people.
]]>By: Timothy Kincaidhttp://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/2012/08/16/47746/comment-page-1#comment-136955
Sat, 18 Aug 2012 01:09:19 +0000http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/?p=47746#comment-136955His civil award goes to the center on campus? Now that is classy!
]]>By: Jayhttp://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/2012/08/16/47746/comment-page-1#comment-136926
Fri, 17 Aug 2012 23:04:46 +0000http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/?p=47746#comment-136926By the way, on the scholarship fund that I mentioned above that the Armstrong family established, see this blog at glbtq.com from November 2011: http://www.glbtq.com/blogs/chris_armstrong_establishes_antibullying_scholarship.html

The scholarship was announced at a celebration for the 40th anniversary for the University of Michigan’s glbt support office (now named the Spectrum Center). I am a UM graduate, so I know how important that support center has been. So does Chris Armstrong.

From glbtq.com link above:

“In announcing the new scholarship, Armstrong said that he and his parents want to make sure that other young people who have been bullied because of their sexual orientation can attend the University of Michigan.

“The scholarship is endowed with an initial donation of $100,000, and is intended for incoming freshmen.

“Armstrong’s father, Steve Armstrong, an attorney in Connecticut, said that the University community helped the entire family cope with the difficulties caused by the bullying Chris endured. He added that the scholarship will allow the Armstrong family to continue to show its gratitude.

“[We] endured the events of the past year only because of the strength and courage of our son, but we soon came to realize from where that strength and courage was coming,” Steve Armstrong said. “We saw the University respond with one powerful, resounding and unified voice to shameful attacks on Chris.”

“Chris Armstrong has described the Spectrum Center as “truly a place where out LGBT leaders can grow and develop. It connects students to the many resources that are around them and shows them the larger community they are a part of. If I had not found Spectrum my first week on campus, I would not have succeeded on campus the way I did.”

“The Spectrum Center dates its history to 1971, when, in response to pressure, including from student members of the Gay Liberation Front, the University of Michigan established the Human Sexuality Office and funded two quarter-time staff positions to be filled by a lesbian and a gay male, who were known as “Advocates.” This was the first staff office for queer students in an institution of higher learning in the United States.”

]]>By: Jayhttp://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/2012/08/16/47746/comment-page-1#comment-136923
Fri, 17 Aug 2012 22:56:26 +0000http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/?p=47746#comment-136923Sorry. Although I suspect that the award may be drastically cut, I do NOT think that it was excessive. A jury carefully weighed the damages done by a stalker who relentlessly defamed a young man who did absolutely nothing to him. They obviously thought the damages, which were largely punitive rather than compensatory (Armstrong asked for $25,000 in compensatory damages, presumably largely to pay for the legal fees he incurred in responding to the defamation and in seeking a protective order, etc.) were justified. I do too.

I doubt that Shirvell will be able to pay them. But note that Armstrong has said that whatever he receives will go to the scholarship fund that he and his family established at the University of Michigan for students who had been bullied in high school.

I do remember that action alert! The ADF treated this Armstrong’s appointment as if it was some egregious and wrongfully obtained job.
They skated the line of libel, by inferring that gay people do things like that in order to further their ‘militant gay agenda’.
And only because Armstrong had been the first gay person to achieve this and had participated in some equality work.
You’d have thought he was a terrorist the way the ADF carried on about him.

That’s the problem with people so rabidly anti gay, they DO engage in slander, and libel and provoke weirdos like Shirvell.

At least the stalking didn’t take on seriously violent proportions.
But considering the recent shootings, it’s not THAT hard for an object of obsession to become a murder victim.
Which is why this reward appears to be taking the seriousness of such a possibility with the gravity it deserves. Even if the actual reward doesn’t come down to that, this is still the most important statement to make.

]]>By: BJohhMhttp://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/2012/08/16/47746/comment-page-1#comment-136866
Fri, 17 Aug 2012 18:10:06 +0000http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/?p=47746#comment-136866OK, I’ve gotta weigh in on the McDonald’s coffee case comparison. The McDonalds Coffee award was ridiculous any way you look at it. The lady brought on the injury to herself. She took a hot cup of coffee (and would have probably complained if it hadn’t been hot), put it between her legs, took the top off, and started driving.

In this case, the award is not so ridiculous because Chris Armstrong didn’t do anything to bring this on himself. Shirvell instigated this, so he should be punished.

In the end though, as several commenters noted, this will be reduced, but I’m sure Shirvell will appeal. Being unemployed, he doesn’t have anything else to do. Others suggested less money, restraining orders, counseling, etc. While all of those things are probably appropriate for Shirvell (does anyone not believe he’s unbalanced), civil juries generally have only money or things of value available as remedies.

]]>By: Snowmanhttp://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/2012/08/16/47746/comment-page-1#comment-136812
Fri, 17 Aug 2012 13:39:06 +0000http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/?p=47746#comment-136812I followed the McDonalds case when it happened, yeah, that lady really got screwed up by such a simple thing, it sucks.